Eric S

Tested all four batteries this morning. Batteries 1, 2 & 4 all showed 12.9v or better while battery 3 was at 12.68v. Battery health was 100% on 1, 2 & 4 while 3 showed 70% battery health. Tester noted #3 was still good and didn’t require a charge. I had the mower plugged in since this past Thursday. I mowed the front yard after testing this morning which took about an hour and still had all the bars lit up, no drop. When mowing season is done I’ll find a true battery shop that I’ll have test #3.

If Ryobi is still putting Leoch batteries in the riders I’ll bet you no other manufacturers will receive endorsements. Contractual thing.

I agree regarding the weak or failing cell on one battery. I’m still convinced it’s battery #3 (as I’ve labeled it). I picked up a TOPDON BT100 battery tester which is supposed to tell me battery health plus % charge. I’m planning on pulling out the tray tomorrow and test #3 tomorrow to include another load test. Hopefully I’ll find out something soon

Mowed yesterday and got just an hour out of the full charge. Meter shows 100% fully charged when I start but once it hits 50% it drops off fast. At 30% the blades stopped spinning which gave me time to drive back to the shed and plug in. The weather is beginning to cool off up here in Wisconsin and leaves are starting to change colors so hopefully not too many more mowing sessions. I spoke to a guy at HD about the Mighty Max batteries he said those are being sold as replacements for the Leoch batteries. I don’t see anywhere on the HD website that states that so take it with a grain of salt, however why would they even list them if they didn’t? Who knows. Again, I think I’ll wait until spring to do any battery replacement since I don’t want them sitting in the unheated shed all winter even though the mower is plugged in the entire time.

I attached a Power Pulse earlier this summer time will till if it really works. I’ll probably end up finishing the fall with the original 4 batteries, keep it plugged in over the winter in my unheated shed and see what happens next spring. Hopefully if I need to replace a battery it will just be that one reading 775 CCA. Does anybody know of, or recommend a battery tester that would provide me an indication that the battery is failing or percentage of life left in the battery?

If I were to remove the batteries from the rider for the winter, put them in my basement with each battery on an individual trickle chargers/maintainer would that cause damage to the batteries?

I bought one off eBay a couple years ago, works great. My wife uses it in her crafting projects.

Third summer using my 100ah RM480ex. I live in western Wisconsin and store the mower in an unheated shed all winter always plugged in. I mow just about 1 acre and when finished always plug in the charger. First 2 summers bar wouldn’t drop below 80% charged, however I started noticing about halfway through this summer (2021) my battery percentage would drop to 50%. I mowed yesterday it dropped to 30% and the blades stopped spinning. I was about 3/4 done with the yard. I plugged it in and charged overnight. This morning the gauge noted 100% battery charged. I took off the deck, removed all the accumulated grass from underneath and removed the black covers and removed all the grass on top. I disconnected the batteries and took them to an auto parts store to get tested. All 4 batteries were at 13 volts with cold cranking amps of 814, 813, 810 and 775. 650 CCA was set as a baseline. I called Leoch on the number on the side of the batteries and spoke to Paul this morning. He told me the battery with 775 CCA “could be suspect” but really no way to tell. He said 3 years is a good amount of time for those batteries. I noted how expensive they are and there’s no source to get new ones. He said he’s fielded quite a few calls from people like me not happy with battery performance. He of course recommended instead of replacing one battery to change out all four with new ones. Does anybody know of other battery manufacturers that we can use for our riding mower? thank you Eric